Step 4: Test Fit and Improve

Step 5: Enjoy!

And just like that - you've spent 5 minutes building a tablet stand for your desk. Sometimes, just getting it done NOW is what you need to do.

Sometimes you just need to MacGyver something together...

Submitted by think|haus for the Instructables Sponsorship Program.

I'm working on a project involving a whole lot of Android tablet time with an external monitor. Reaching out to poke a touchscreen that isn't in the same general area as the display was beginning to make my brain hurt. Also, the developer of the tablet has oriented it such that if the external monitor is in use, the cable exits out of the "bottom" - this means that most traditional tablet stands do not work.

Step 1: Measure and Layout

I'm fairly certain that all projects start with measurement and layout.

In this case, we end up with:

* 7.5" wide * 5" tall * 1/2" thick

My target is to have the tablet at a near vertical angle and roughly the height of the monitor. In my office, the bottom edge of the monitor is 9.5"

If you fiddle about with the numbers, you'll end up with a side view something approximately like the picture.

Step 2: Transfer Measurements to Cardboard

I used a piece of double ply cardboard with the corrugation of the two layers parallel -- this allowed me to neatly fold the cardboard along two vertical lines.

TIP: As a short-cut to keeping things well designed, I planned for the "bottom" edge to be a factory cut edge - those vertical folds are exactly 90 degrees to the bottom edge. This will significantly reduce wobble.

Lay out the "to cut" areas as you normally would. My grade 7 shop teacher taught me to mark the area that is scrap. Just to be sure. You should too.

This is SO something I would do, and have done in the past. There are times you need something to be sleek and elegant and finished. Other times, you need to test an idea or just get something done temporarily. For those latter times, pretty is unnecessary... functional works!